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kishy's 1985 Country Squire

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    I dig the triangle indicators. Why I like F-Series trucks from '87-'91 more. The last American vehicle I'm aware of which used foot actuated high beams and had indicators not within the gauge area or close to each other.
    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

    Comment


      As much as I want to see the wagon finished (and eventually see it in person) it makes sense to me to focus on getting the ranger done before winter.
      Vic

      ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
      ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
      ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
      ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

      Comment


        Interior A pillar moldings do have to go on/come off without a dash pad installed.
        ~David~

        My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
        My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

        Originally posted by ootdega
        My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

        Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
        But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

        Originally posted by gadget73
        my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




        Comment


          The 85 mph speedo was actually a federally mandated thing here for years. I think it stopped in 90 or 91. The idea was that if your speedometer wouldn't read past 85, you wouldn't try and go faster.
          86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
          5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

          91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

          1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

          Originally posted by phayzer5
          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

          Comment


            What a stupid idea eh?

            Fireturd's goes to 120 and optional was a 140 unit. I like the 120 better as beyond that, I'm not going to be looking down anyway and it's easier to discern lower speeds. But, it's an '89. Bet automakers had to pay a tax or something to have them read beyond 85.
            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

            Comment


              maybe 1989 was the end of it, but it was somewhere in that time period. 89 Mark VII had an 85 speedo, 90+ had 120 and the clusters will interchange.
              86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
              5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

              91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

              1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

              Originally posted by phayzer5
              I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

              Comment


                Could have been. But I'm fairly certain that starting in '87 the Formulas and Trans Ams got 120mph clusters and then the 140 was optional. I've never seen an '87 with anything but the 120mph cluster, even the V6 ones. Literature shows there is an '85 available and even a basic cluster with just a speedo and idiot lights in place of gages.
                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                Comment


                  The first wagon bolt of 2019 has been turned!

                  Started work on the front end rebuild. This was not strictly necessary, however the brake system needed to be 100% redone with all new everything, so it seemed like a smarter investment to cover the front end parts at the same time. The "might-as-wells" catalyze each other and you end up with it making a lot more sense to just do the brake swap. In this case, 95-97 to accommodate my 15" cop car steelies.

                  Ball joints and tie rod ends are Moog Problem Solver. Upper control arms are junkyard 92-94 arms, with new Moog rubber bushings. Inner and outer tie rod ends are Moog Problem Solver with Quick Steer adjusting sleeves. Bump stops are being reused. Lower control arm along with its bushings is being reused. Sway bar end link is McQuay-Norris under the ProSteer brand (the one for the other side will be Mevotech, also under the ProSteer brand).









                  Yes, only one side done (and even then, incomplete) in an afternoon...I'd be really bad at doing this professionally.

                  Current driver: Ranger
                  Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                  | 88 TC | 91 GM
                  Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                  Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                  | Junkyards

                  Comment


                    The spring try and kill you?
                    ~David~

                    My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                    My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                    Originally posted by ootdega
                    My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                    Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                    But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                    Originally posted by gadget73
                    my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                    Comment


                      Originally posted by 87gtVIC View Post
                      The spring try and kill you?
                      Yes, actually...it put up a much better fight than my 91 did.

                      The only reason I took it out was to evaluate the condition of the lower arm bushings. They are in usable shape so it went back together. I don't think I'm going to take the spring out on the other side. Those things contain all sorts of pent up hate.

                      I was half tempted to put my Speedway springs in because of how much easier it goes together on them, except I completely hated how my 91 rode on them, and won't fall into that trap again.

                      Current driver: Ranger
                      Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                      | 88 TC | 91 GM
                      Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                      Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                      | Junkyards

                      Comment


                        I truly hate messing with the springs on these. I changed mine 3 times to end up back with stock replacement springs. No more of that crap.
                        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                        Originally posted by phayzer5
                        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                        Comment


                          Sinus infection has gone away. Work slowly resuming.

                          Knocked off the passenger side knuckle and upper control arm. Forgot to put the jack under the LCA when I cut through the sway bar link...it's a good thing the arms have a good lip on them to hold the spring or I'd probably have taken some damage from that lapse in judgment.

                          Put the new shock in but found one of the lower holes is stripped, par for the course. Went rooting through my collection of bolts and found something that should work but it's quite a bit bigger. Surgery to install that will be another day.

                          I'm feeling a lot better about the condition of the frame now that I've taken a wire brush to some of the extra scaly spots. It truly is just surface rust. This frame is as solid as they come, it's just ugly. A thorough powerwash, forced air dry, and then oil bath will need to be done.

                          I also found what appears to be some sort of fungus growing on the intake manifold. Kinda neat in a really weird way. Pics to come when I remember to take one. It's a green jelly that I initially mistook for antifreeze but I'm pretty sure it's an organic growth, bearing in mind how much grossness existed under the hood of this when I dragged it home.

                          Current driver: Ranger
                          Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                          | 88 TC | 91 GM
                          Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                          Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                          | Junkyards

                          Comment


                            Ooo biology. Did you taste it?
                            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                            Comment


                              No...no I did not lol. Although if it is Nostoc, which it appears to maybe be, it seems it wouldn't do any harm. It's clinging to vertical walls on the intake manifold so I don't see how it could be antifreeze; that would be pooling rather than clinging.

                              Passenger side is assembled with new lower ball joint, junkyard knuckle, new upper ball joint, junkyard upper arm with new bushings, new shock, new sway bar link. Tie rods for both sides are on-hand but not yet installed.

                              Hubs, calipers, rotors to come later. Brake plumbing is coming soon; as a refresher, that will include a new booster (old is already removed), newer style master cylinder without frame mounted dual system valve, and new hard lines all around using mostly metric flare nuts with bubble flares.

                              I noticed that in order to re-add AC to this car I will need to get the bracket that goes below the compressor, where the idler mounts, as that bracket was removed when P.O. de-smogged the car. It is my intent to make the AC work on this.

                              I also had a lightbulb moment. I earlier described the car as sounding "like a tractor" for the first minute (or less) of runtime. I think it's the same thing that happened to my Lincoln when I pulled the air pump and found the check valves don't really work. The TAB/TAD is still connected and as such it's venting the cylinder head air pipe to atmosphere until the solenoid is triggered by the computer. So when it's finally time to run this baby again, I've got something to look for. Still a fair ways out from that though. Need a gas tank and lines and stuff.




                              Current driver: Ranger
                              Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                              | 88 TC | 91 GM
                              Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                              Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                              | Junkyards

                              Comment


                                I love seeing the front end conversion from the original setup to the later Panther stuff.

                                When you take that setup in for an alignment, do they align it as a typical Box or an early Aero? Are any of your other cars running with that setup, and if so, how is the brake feel compared to the stock stuff?


                                My Cars:
                                -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                                -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                                -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                                -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

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